Bike Shifting in Ramakrishna Ashrama

Ramakrishna Ashrama is one of the quieter corners of Basavanagudi, settled streets around the circle where families have lived in the same houses for decades. A scooter that has been in one porch for many years collects small rituals along the way. After the annual vehicle puja there's a garland, and a fresh lemon and green chilli string gets tied on the handlebar every few weeks. A kumkum mark on the headlamp, a thread on the mirror, a small Ganesha glued to the dashboard by a grandchild. To the owner none of it is decoration.

It has to be said plainly that a carrier isn't a good place for any of it. A fresh garland sheds petals, and wet petals stain a seat and stick to a padded strap. A lemon string dries, shrinks and swings loose, and a rotting lemon can leave a mark on paint or attract ants into the seat box. A small idol glued to the dash can crack off and go missing under the footboard, and that's the sort of loss a family feels for a long time. A kumkum or turmeric mark is harmless on its own, but damp powder smears against anything that touches it.

So the plan is simple and gentle. Take the garland off the day before, let the owner treat it however the family normally does, and don't leave it on the bike overnight to wilt. Remove the lemon and chilli string, and don't hang a new one until the bike has reached the new porch. Lift the small idol off the dash with a little care, wrap it in a soft cloth and carry it yourself, along with the family's other pooja items. The owner can do this in five minutes with the household at their side, it doesn't need any special skill.

What can stay is easy to decide. A dot of kumkum or sandal paste on the headlamp is fine, and so is a thread tied on the mirror or the handlebar if the family doesn't want to untie it. We pad the contact points where straps meet the bike, and the crew will avoid pressing on a marked panel. If there's something the family especially wants left alone, say it on the call and it's noted on the condition record, so nobody later thinks a mark is damage.

Then there's the arrival. A good number of families here like to do a small puja when the scooter reaches the new house, with a garland, a coconut and incense. Plan for it. Keep the garland, the kumkum and the lemon string in a small box that travels with you, and tell the crew you'll be waiting at the gate. A scooter that's met with a blessing feels different from a scooter dropped at a kerb and the few minutes cost us nothing.

There's a practical reason behind the gentleness, too. Families who are asked to strip a scooter in a hurry, at the gate, in front of a crew, tend to get it wrong or get upset. Families who've been told a week earlier do it calmly and usually bring the garland out with pride. Nothing in a move should make a person feel rushed out of their own customs.

We aren't making a show of any of this. The crew isn't a priest and doesn't need to be one. It's about not losing a family's small, important things in the gap between two porches.

A full household move is another subject, and photographs, albums and keepsakes have their own page among the Ramakrishna Ashrama packers and movers pages. Here the subject is one scooter and whatever is tied on it.

Electric scooters are newer and usually carry fewer rituals, though a blessing tends to follow the vehicle whatever powers it. Bike transport for an electric model is arranged the same way as for a petrol one, with extra thought for the battery. Clear the dash and the mirrors in the same way. Give the model when you ring and mention whether the battery is a lift out one. Both the pack's handling and whatever the receiving person must produce get fixed during that call.